Residents of Panay Island aired concerns and dismal after major parts of the Visayas region was hit by a blackout caused by a shut down of its coal power plants.
Meanwhile, NCGP has since issued the following advisory:
NGCP Advisory:
At 12:06PM, 02 January 2024, NGCP monitored the tripping of PEDC Unit 1 due to an internal issue. At 2:19PM, PEDC Unit 2, PCPC, and other plants tripped in Panay Island, isolating the same from the rest of the Visayas grid. The cause of the multiple tripping is unknown. 302 MW was lost to the grid, in addition to 150MW on planned maintenance shutdown, including PEDC Unit 3. In total, 452 MW is unavailable. Currently, none of the power plants in Panay Island are generating power.
NGCP is focusing its efforts on stabilizing voltage, and have extended feedback power to Iloilo and PEDC. Load restoration will be done conservatively, by matching loads to restored generation, to prevent repeated voltage failure.
At 3:24PM, the Negros-Panay interconnection was restored after it tripped at 3:07pm.
YELLOW ALERT
4:00PM-10:00PM
A yellow alert is issued due to tripping of major plants at Panay resulting in low operating margin.
Restoration of affected plants are ongoing.
While NGCP did not implement manual load dropping, distribution utilities may implement load drops due to voltage sensitive loads or manual disconnection to secure voltage levels.
On the other hand, other energy companies like the Guimaras Electric Cooperative (GUIMELCO), Iloilo Electric Cooperative (ILECO), Capiz Electric Cooperative (CAPELCO), Antique Electric Cooperative (ANTECO), and Aklan Electric Cooperative (AKELCO) posted separate advisories on the system disturbance.
“This emergency power interruption is affecting not only Capiz but the entire Panay, Negros, and Guimaras Islands,” CAPELCO wrote in their statement.
Meanwhile, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas expressed his dismay over the power interruptions in Panay Island in a message posted on the Iloilo City government’s Facebook page.
“I am utterly dismayed that due to an unstable supply, the whole Panay Island can be totally isolated,” Treñas said.
The mayor called on the Department of Energy (DOE) and the NGCP to resolve the problem at the earliest possible time, insisting that the latter find a more sustainable solution to the problem.
